Means of measuring distances and altitudes



L. E. SCHUBERT KEANE; OF MEASURING DISTANCES AND ALTITUDE-S Filed April 17, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 17. 1925. 1,527,086 1.. E. SCHUBERT MEANS OF MEASURING DISTANCES AND ALTITUISES Filed April 17, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. E. SCHUBERT MEANS OF MEASURING DIsTAg Es AND ALTITUDES Filed April 1'7, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 17, 1925 7 mnms or mnesnnme nIsTA ns nun armonies,

T yell w. 121cm Jamey concern a o Be-kit, known that I, a Li E RWINMSOHUBEEIj a cit zen of; Germany, residing at;;.=Berlin,; ,v Germany, have invented certainneav-wandn useful improvements;iinjMeans; of aMeasur ingsi Distances and a-Altitudes for, whichv I have filed an applicationin Germany on February 22,1917"), ofwhich thev following is a specification.

inventio has. re erenc o I Q HSn f measuring. any desired distances, 5 and {altitudes, and it is oneoflthej important objects a of {my inve t onito preside means-to be able: to ,readaoftrthe value'oi the distance or, alti- 1 tude directly ,yvith the;- sighting of. the aim..

In accordance With my invention I make PI'OVlSlOIl-fO1JIl6aSH11ng'tl16 distances by the employment of two measur ng mstnuments of known; distance 5 from 1 each 1 other -in ,accordance With-the trigonometric base method usually employed for mensurations, in the; open, and in the ,practiseot ,my invention I prefer to proceedsby pro-viding a genie.v ometric or angle; measuring in$trument v i at eitheriend ,of the base to be selected the dividing circle of which is COIlllQClQGClzWllih a telescope, and is adapted, upon the sighting of the aim, to be moved past an indicator Which is continuously pointed in the direc- 3 tion of the main observing instrument, so

as vto. enable the, operatoutoread off the; position of the, dividing circle of the other goniometric instrument relatively; to. such indicator.

Fig. 7 1 'illustrates,diagrammatically the trigonometric measuring method usually employed.

t illustra ng,thewpliactising,of. the new method accordingto my invention,

Fig -fL-shovvs a ,vertical section of a pre-, ferred; form of construct on 0t an apparatus 7 embodyingi my invention, and adaptable by Way-of example for taking measurements,

cco ding t t e n w method;

Fig. 5 isa plan vievv indicatingconvem tionallythe relative positions of the operating parts,

Fig.,; 6 is a side view correspondingito Fig.;;4., a

My invention will. be explained by the aid of the accompanying-,dna-Wings on which Figsr2 and-13 are diagramsk to, bereferred.

Fig. 7 is a similarview of; the auxiliary o instrument and I I F 8 isa planv-iew thereofr lens shown in Fig; 7

Fig; lO isi a diagram-10f curves.-

may for'instancebe mounted at the-point B the magnifying the prineipal observation device which 11 ofFig. l,-theangle--may be directly-read oifland the positionof the'nuxiliary instrument mounted andad justed byan assistant at 13A maybe read by means of a telescope provided uponhtheiprineipal instrument "so as tobeable to-determine-the angle a. Ines;

: much asitheilength of the base ;0' Wasknovvn before the adjusting of both instruments the .d1stance=B@:a may he -easily calculated .froin the a formula sin a sin 'y The calculation Work is done by mechan- 102th Jneans- 1naccordance with my l lnvention by the use of a three-sect1oned calculating 1 slide one section: of which indicates the values; oflog lsin a, while the -otherslidecontainstthe avalues log sin y, and the -tl 1ird slide section A of v which graduated in -accordanceiavith the adjustment of the-bases 0.

In a preferred manner of r carry ing the inventioninto practise -the novel calculating-i it slide is. combined with :the Ol'JSGIV21131011-lIlstrumen-t inisuch aomanner: that the adj ust-- ment .oii' the -,calculation slide-V is efiected simultaneously awitli thecsighting of ithe target, so. aseto enable the distanceza to be read off directly supon the principal observation instrument.

The lmain observing. instrument is shown by wayqofa example innFig. 4: in elevation with partsdnsection and in Fig. 5 implan viewavithparts in-sectionwhile' ;Fig.. 6 is a side-View;

Thebottom; portion a carries a telescopic system the optical axis of which is adapted the instrumentgbyethe employment of prisms as appears f1',0m;-;Fig.;5.. Thehbo'ttom'. por-,

tion a also carriesa support for :the v indicator d in cooperatlon with the middle secedgeaportionf et saidimiddzle sectioncan,

.to beshifted around the verticalfaxisof tion 7, of the apparatus, the conically shaped rying a scale for the indication of the an les which are shown by the indicator d, and may be read off by a lens 9. This mid dle section 7 of the apparatus is provided with a curved bottom portion /L which corresponds to the curve log sin or and which rests upon studs 2' provided upon the bottom section a, diametrically opposite each other. The upper portion of the section 7 is provided with a curve correspondin to the value of log sin 7 and adapted to support the studs m of the upper section of the apparatus.

The two curves is and ii are illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 10. In the proximity of the end values 0, 180 and 360 the curves of the logarithms of the angles a and 7 owing to their approaching the value infinite become so steep that the gliding of the studs m on the curve 70 and even the construction of the curve surface it on the cylinder f is rendered impossible. But these end values do not play any role in the practical use of the instrument.

The upper section is provided with the telescope 0. A graduated ruler p is arranged in the vertical axis of the apparatus which projects downwards adjacent the base ruler q which latter is adapted to be moved past the base mark 7' rigidly secured to the bottom of the lower section a of the instrument. The said three sections p, g and r constitute the calculating slide above referred to.

The base ruler Q may be secured to the lower section a, by means of a clamping device or other suitable means, in such a manner that it may be accurately and undisplaceably adjusted by vertical reciprocation before commencing the measuring operation so as to indicate the value corresponding to the logarithm of the measured base. The adjustment is effected by reading off the value upon the logarithmic graduation of the base ruler Q by means of the base mark secured to the bottom part a in the usual manner. The scale ruler p is secured to the top section in a suitable manner, the ruler being arranged for instance in the vertical hollow axle of the apparatus the ruler being thereby adapted to follow every upward and downward movement of the part 71 of the apparatus, and thereby iiidicatingthe sum of the two quantities of movement which are dependent upon the curves In and h, by the position of the ruler relatively to the mark 1 of the base ruler 9.

Hence, the procedure is that the mark 0 is permanently stationary while the base ruler Q is adjustable, but after having been adjusted once for the logarithm of the measuring base A--B it remains in this position as long as this measuring base is not changed while the scale ruler p may be moved during the measuring operation in accordance with the value or the logarithms or the particular anguiar Iuiictiohs.

ine auscissze or the curve it upon the t'uiiuing circle correspond to the angular units, while its ordinates correspond to the logarithms of the sines of the corresponding angles. The ordinates, though downwardly graduated operate as positive values in relation to the raising of the measuring device during the sliding movement upon the studs 2'.

The abscissac of the curve is. also correspond to the angular units, while the corresponding ordinates are staggered ninety degrees upon the cylinder with relation to the abscissae.

The clamp .9 indicated in Figs. l, 5 and 6 serves for locking the sections a and f to each other whenever desired.

The procedure in effecting a measurement is as follows;

After having measured the base 0 (Fig. 1) the auxiliary instrument should be mounted at A and should be horizontally levelled. Then it should be pointed upon B so as to direct the zero point and the indicator in the direction of B. The indicator is then locked in this direction. The principal observation instrument is then mounted at B, horizontally levelled and the zero points of section (6 and section f (the zero point of the scale and made to agree. After having locked the parts a and f to each other by means of the screw a (Fig. 5) the telescope 7) is directed to the point A. Then, the value of the base 0 should be marked off by means of the slide ruler q. The equation sin a sin y will then be solved as follows :The observer at A points his instrument upon C by aid of the telescope 0' (Figs. 7 and 8), and reads the value of the index ii of the drum u of the auxiliary instrument. The observer at the telescope 7) reads off the angle a: he then observes the indication upon the dividing circle and makes the adjustment for the angle 0: (Fig. 52). The curve It (log sin a) is turned upon the stud i for the value a and raises parts 7 and n. with the scale ruler 7) for the value of the log sin a. Then the observer at the telescope 0 points his instrument to the point C so as to turn his directing axis through the anglet to the right (Fig. 3), while the Zero point of the section f has been turned to the left for the value of the angle a. The two optical axes which are determined by the two zero points now form the angle a+6 from which follows 7:180-(a-H5).

The value of the sine is negative in conabout its horizontal journals 1).

sina 'siny The auxiliary instrument at A is illustrated in elevation in Figure 7 and in plan view in Figure 8. It consists of a divided drum u resting on a tripod and the lower part of which is stationary and carries a visible mark 2'. The upper part of the drum is arranged to be rotated and bears a graduation from 0-360". On the upper part it of the drum the sighting telescope 0 is connected by the support 4) so as to be oscillatable only It can be turned about the vertical axis o 'vc only together with the upper part it. On sighting the point C, the part a of the drum is rotated to the left through angle a. When sighting moving objects, the observer at A constantly follows the object O with the telescope 0.

The magnifying lens Z facilitates a correct reading of the angle a set at A for the observer at B who sights the graduation of the instrument at A by the telescope system I), the lens serving for magnifying the image of the scale of the drum.

I claim:

1. Device for measuring distances and altitudes, comprising in combination two measuring instruments, sighting means on said instruments, angle measuring scales on said instruments, and means for reading the angular scale of one instrument from the other instrument.

2, In a device for measuring distances and altitudes, two observation instruments; scales for indicating angle values on such instruments, an adjustable section 'on each instrument, and curved top and bottom portions on said section corresponding to trigonometric values, adjustable scales on the other portion of each instrument corresponding to other trigonometric functions and sighting means on each instrument adapted to be directed to scales of the other instrument and to other distant points.

3. In a device for measuring distances and altitudes in combination, an angle measuring instrument, an angle indicating scale on such instrument, an observation instrument,

ric; functions, and a curved top adapted to correspond to other trigonometric functions, a lower section onwhich said member is revolubly supported, a substantially circularly arranged, angle-indicating scale on said revoluble member, sighting means on the supporting section, and means'on vsaid supporting section for viewing said scale, an upper section freely supported on said revoluble member, a graduated ruler on said upper section adapted to project through the lower section, a graduated slide on said lower section and adjustable relatively to said graduated ruler, said graduated ruler and slide indicating certain trigonometric functions, and means for securing the parts in position.

5. In a measuring instrument in combination, a stationary lower supporting section, an indicator secured to said section, an adjustable ruler on said section adapted to indicate logarithms of a distance serving as a basis, an adjustable curved section supported on the lower section, and an upper section supported on the curved section, and a graduated ruler on said upper section and downwardly extended in engagement with said logarithmic ruler and displaceable during the measuring operationin accordance with the change of the angular measuring constants.

6. In a measuring instrument in combination, three substantially cylindrical, sub stantiallycoaxial sections one of which is stationary, there being graduations on one of said sections containing the numbers of certain trigonometric functions, and calculating means operably connected to said sections and supported on said sections for vertical movement in parallel relation to the cylinder-axis and a graduation on said vertically movable means for indicating the logarithms of said numbers.

7. In a measuring instrument in combination, a substantially cylindrical-three-sectioned casing, having a lower relatively stationary section, an intermediate slidably supported upwardly and downwardly arched section on said casing the arched top and bottom of which are curved in accordance with the sinelogarithms of certain measuring angles, and a base indicating, axially supported, downwardly projecting base ruler on said sections, and an indicator on said lower section, adapted for cooperation with said base ruler.

8. In a measuring instrument, in combination, a substantially cylindrical casing in two sections, a lower relatively stationary supporting section on said casing, a revoluble scale on the other section, and an indi cator on the stationary section rigidly secured thereto, and cooperating with said scale.

9. In a measuring instrument in combination it three sectioned casing, 21 lower relatively stationary supportingsection on said casing, 21 slidzibly supported upwardly and downwardly arched intermediate section supported thereon, an upper section sup ported on said intermediate section a telescope on said upper section, and cooperating curved uides supporting said telescope and operutirely connected to said casing, the curvature of said guides being adapted to 10 indicate the logarithm of the tangent of the angle of elevation. 1

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

L. ERWIN SCHUBERT. 

